


Fire

by AmmoHasTooManyFandoms



Series: Bondi's Best [7]
Category: Bondi Rescue (TV)
Genre: A little angst, Angst, BoyxBoy, Firefighter, Gen, I owe some thanks lmao check out my author's note, Lifeguard, M/M, Slash, They're dating in this get over it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 03:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20686829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmmoHasTooManyFandoms/pseuds/AmmoHasTooManyFandoms
Summary: Maxi’s off fighting a fire just a little too dangerous for him, and when he returns home he knows Harrison’s going to be mad. Instead, he’s silent, until the early morning when he feels someone crawling into bed beside him...





	Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve put a bunch of Chicago Fire references into this, first person to detect ALL of them gets a shoutout from me on the next post :). Huge cheers to piranahaha, who I’ve been bouncing ideas off for the last few weeks or so. It really helps!  
Also; in Australia, we have a captain instead of a chief.

****

“Hutts, I just got called into the station; they need help fighting this huge ass fire just outside the city. I’ll probably be gone for the rest of the arvo okay?”

Harrison looked up from the cricket match on tv, and sent Maxi a nod.

“Be careful. Don’t do something stupid.”

“Like you can talk. Yeah, I saw you stack it last week. Take care of that knee, okay?”

Maxi leaned down and Harrison reached to kiss them, Maxi giving Harrison’s arm a squeeze.

“See you in a bit. Don’t wait up for me.”

“Are you gonna take your phone with you?”

“I can’t; I’m only allowed to have my radio on me in case my phone overheats and blows up or something. I’ll text you when I get to the station, deal?”

“Sounds good. Love you.”

Maxi smiled, kissing Harrison again.

“Love you too.”

Maxi left, taking his bag with him and Harrison just sat for a moment. Despite his trust in Maxi, his firefighting skills, and the team, he couldn’t help but worry every time Maxi got called out. It was only small, but the doubt boiling at the pit of his stomach made him frown.

Luckily for Maxi he was on with a couple of his good friends that day and when he rolled up to the shed he was quickly followed by his cousin Ryan; also a Bondi lifeguard and firefighter. The ultimate duo of jobs, working in the water and with fire made them more experienced and kept them on their toes for both occupations. Getting out of his car Maxi lightly hit Ryan on the arm, shouldering his bag.

“Sounds pretty hectic.”

“Yeah, I was off today as well so it must be big.”

They walked together into the station, greeting the on-call firefighters who were already suited up. Maxi went to his locker and quickly texted Harrison that he had to turn his phone off now before tossing the device into the safe. He locked it and stripped out of his casual clothes, sliding into his uniform. Just as he and Ryan finished up they were called over the loudspeaker to the meeting area. Maxi glanced at his younger cousin who just shrugged.

“Might have another unit joining us.”

“They never call us in for a briefing unless it’s serious. We should get going.”

Sure enough there were three people standing at the front of the room; Maxi and Ryan’s captain, an ambulance officer and one of the people higher up in the chain of command. Maxi swallowed, taking a seat beside his friend Sean. Their captain, Matthew, stepped up, gaining everyone’s attention.

“Okay boys, thanks for being so prompt. I apologise to those who were called in on their day off; unfortunately, we’re going to need all hands on deck today. It’s the worst kind of day for a fire to get started, and we just received a call from the firees already on the scene that this fire is going to require more than just them. I’ve asked our resident ambulance officer to come in before you leave just to talk briefly about heat stroke, exhaustion and burns victims. We’re also going to be fitting emergency devices on to you today, just as a precaution. This fire is not particularly fast, but it’s burning hot so we want to be prepared. Everyone please welcome Gabby.”

There was brief clapping as the smaller woman stepped up, heaving a sigh. She seemed troubled but experienced despite her young age.

“Okay everyone, we all know the basic signs of heat stress and heat stroke, but I wanted to just quickly ensure you guys knew what to do if you or someone around you began to feel these symptoms.”

Gabby began her explanation and Maxi set his eyes on her, focusing completely. Beside him, Ryan made a noise of concern.

“Mate, I’m kinda worried now.”

“Fucking listen then,” Sean shot back; his tone wasn’t malicious, he was scared too. Maxi rolled his eyes, honing in on what the ambulance officer was explaining.

“Last thing on the list and then you can get going. We’ve been rolling these out across Australia for a couple months and they’ve proved useful for situations like these.”

Gabby held up a small device, showing where it would sit on the firefighter’s uniform. She smiled at the look of confusion crossing their faces, clearing her throat.

“These are heart and temperature monitors. It’s built in to automatically take in your heart rate and your external temperature. Once you exceed that temperature range or your heart rate drops below a rate, indicating you may be unconscious, an alert is sent to your captain and an alarm sounds. It sounds scary but so far these have been powerful tools for those from the city fighting strong, fast and hot bushfires. All you need to do is clip it on to the inside of your shirt under your fire-retardant clothes against your collarbone. Come past me and I’ll check it on your way out. Is that everything?”

Gabby turned back to Captain Matt, who nodded.

“Now, the last person on the board here is Mr Wallace Boden. He’s one of the inspectors for firee safety. He’s going to give you a run-down on how this is going to work and then we can look at the map.”

Boden stepped forward and immediately the entire room fell silent just as it had when Gabby was speaking. Captain Matthew was good friends with the rest of the team so there was often an amount of horsing around when he was trying to give a speech. Boden was a high-up, and everyone knew it was serious when someone came from the offices in the middle of Sydney.

“Good afternoon everyone. Let’s begin by ensuring everyone has signed their safety liability agreements…”

20 minutes later Maxi was climbing into the front of the firetruck, nudged along by Ryan. Maxi ended up on the half seat in the middle while Ryan took the full seat on the window. Sean jumped into the driver’s seat and the rest of their team quickly filed in, Maxi in control of the radio. Otis, Hermann and Kelly thumped the thin metal wall separating the back and front seats so Maxi pulled the window open, turning up the radio. They cheered in response and Maxi set to work checking radios as Sean pulled on to the road.

“Mate; do you think it’s that serious or are they just making us get revved up for nothing?” Ryan asked. Maxi shook his head, shrugging.

“Dunno Ryan; we are just gonna get in and out though. Do what we need to do and skedaddle.”

Ryan snorted, tossing his jacket on to the floor. The drive would take at least half an hour and usually Maxi would spend that time napping or playing on his phone but this time he set to reading the firefighter’s manual usually in the truck.

“Oi Ryan, look.”

Sean leaned across Maxi and flicked Ryan’s arm. Ryan glanced out the window and his eyes widened, nudging Maxi.

“Oi Trent, mate… they weren’t kidding.”

Maxi lifted his head from the manual and his heart caught in his throat. The fire was already tall, and he could feel it was going to get hot already. His mind went to the boys in the back and he whacked on the wall, turning to yell to them.

“We’re coming up to the site now; are we all good to go?”

“Yeah we’re okay. Shit it’s hot though.”

“We have new slabs of water in the fridge boys, make sure to drink up and take breaks as Gabby told us. Is everyone’s heart monitor working?”

Maxi received various calls of confirmation through the truck and he nodded at Sean.

“They’re good.”

Pulling into the meet up location Maxi immediately surveyed the area, detecting dry leaves on the ground along with old gumtrees that could burn to a crisp in seconds. It also provided lethal fuel to an already scorching fire, and as he pulled on his helmet he turned to Matt.

“Okay Cap, what’s the plan?”

“Maxi, Ryan and Sean I want you to take the south side as it’s coming from the east. Keep your radios on at all times because we’re going to do a firebreak hopefully before the fire can reach the houses nearby and I don’t really want to boil anyone’s brains today.”

“Gotcha.”

Maxi and Ryan grabbed the equipment needed while Sean checked over the truck’s water supply and hoses. When he turned to nod at the other two they jumped back in, the other three on the team being directed by their captain.

Harrison stretched out on the couch and sat up from where he’d been stretched out watching the cricket, reaching for his phone to check the time.

7:41pm. Maxi had been gone for three hours.

He turned his attention back to the tv, flicking over to the local news channel. The fire report was just starting and Harrison swung his legs to sit rather than lie when he spotted some of Maxi’s crew in the back of the shot. Kelly Severide was wheeling a stretcher bed away from the scene and Harrison’s heart caught in his throat.

“A firefighter was severely injured just moments before we rolled in due to his firebreak tanker exploding and dousing him in fuel. The other firees were lucky to get him out of there when they did, but it’s been said that he suffered severe third degree burns to a percentage of his body. More at 6.”

The couch was now empty as Harrison grabbed his phone and bolted to the kitchen. If he had to be called to the hospital for his boyfriend, he was going to be cool about it. Right as he pressed dial on Captain Matthew Casey’s number his phone displayed a text message from Jesse, then Whippet, then Hoppo, before slowly filling up with other lifeguards expressing their concern about Maxi. Harrison shakily dialled Jethro, holding the phone to his ear.

“Hutts, mate, what’s-“

“-do you think you could get here real quick? Mate I’m freaking out he doesn’t have his phone on him, he can’t so I don’t know if it’s him.”

“I’m on my way.”

Harrison collapsed on to a bar stool, resting his cheek on the cool bench for a moment to reset.

_It can’t be him_. _Don’t let it be him._

“Ryan!”

Ryan’s head spun to see Sean bolting toward him, and reached to grab him by the shoulders before he could knock him on to the floor.

“Woah mate, what’s going on? Where’s Trent?”

“I’m here. It’s Cap, he got pretty burnt up on the front line. They’re telling everyone to leave this section; the fire is going to be aerial sprayed. It’s pretty much the last resort.”

Maxi appeared shortly behind Sean, and used his knees to brace himself as he took deep breaths.

“Man, it’s ridiculously hot. We need to go.”

Ryan nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Together they walked back to the truck, hearing the roar of the nearby fire about to destroy someone’s home. The firebreak had been completed successfully, however it wasn’t enough and the fire just about hopped over it to ravage toward the small cluster of homes in the bush.

“Harrison?”

“Hey, Jeth. Look, I know it’s probably nothing but- but that’s his crew. That was Kelly Severide helping the medics get the stretcher into the ambulance.”

“I know; we all saw it in the tower. Hoppo’s calling the station; said he would give us an update when he had one.”

“What if it was him?”

Jethro shook his head, taking a seat on the armrest of the couch beside Harrison who had the TV on mute, playing the news at 6 that was focusing on the fire report. So far there hadn’t been any identification of who had been burned and that made Harrison even more worried. He was by no means someone to worry, but his boyfriend was fighting that fire on his day off and he wanted him home that night.

“Let’s hope it isn’t.”

“Sean, can you hear that?”

“That’s the fire, Ryan.”

Ryan rolled his eyes, looking to his cousin. Between the three of them Maxi had the most experience on the job and he had been to a couple of risky fires previously.

“What’s the plan?”

“Not sure.”

Maxi reached up to his shoulder, activating his radio.

“Trent to team; just giving you a heads up we’ll be back at the original drop off point in approximately ten minutes.”

“Kelly to Trent; just keep going back to the station, we’re all getting out of here while we can. Don’t really want a repeat of Black Saturday or Ash Wednesday.”

“Roger that mate. How’s cap?”

“Casey’s gonna be fine, hopefully. It’s still early days.”

“Early _hours_, more like,” Maxi murmured. He cleared his throat.

“Thanks for the update Severide. Crack a cold one ready for me.”

“Sure thing Trent.”

Kelly was gone and Maxi focused back on the other two who seemed to be up to date with what was going on. His hand reached for his monitor to switch it off, surprised when he found it was gone.

“Shit, Casey’s gonna kill me,” he murmured, doing a quick glance around him just in case it had fallen off in the truck somewhere.

“I think Casey’s a little more focused on living right now,” Sean replied, earning a smack upside the head from Maxi.

“Can it.”

The door opened and Harrison glanced up, raising an eyebrow. It was close to 10pm; the last time the fire report had run was close to 3 hours ago. Maxi entered their apartment, tossing his keys and bag to their little table near the door.

“Hey babe, sorry I’m late. Stopped to have a beer with the boys; you know how it is.”

“Mm.”

Harrison’s reply was short, and he got up from the couch to turn the TV off. As he stretched, he gestured to his bedroom instead of their shared one.

“Gonna get some sleep, I’m exhausted.”

“From sleeping on the couch and watching cricket?” Maxi smirked.

“Yep. It can be like that sometimes.”

Harrison disappeared before Maxi could come over to kiss him. A frown crossed his features before he shook his head, going over to the fridge.

Fighting fires could build quite the appetite. Irritated boyfriend would have to wait.

The rustling of sheets disturbed Maxi from his sleep and he opened his eyes to check out what was going on only to be tackled by Harrison in a bear hug. Harrison laid his head on Maxi’s chest, their legs intertwining and Maxi knew something was wrong. Harrison only ever did this if it was important.

“M’sorry I was so blunt, it’s just… when I heard that there had been someone injured, and Kelly was at the fire, I guess I just panicked, and then you didn’t call or text, and I- I- I was really fucking scared, Trent.”

_Trent_. Only ever used when they fought, Maxi knew he was in trouble. He sighed, lifting a hand to hold Harrison’s lower back.

“I’m sorry Hutts, I didn’t even think about it like that. I was at the hospital; Matthew Casey was burned in the fire pretty badly.”

“_Casey_, as in your _captain_?”

“Yep. Freak accident, equipment with a factory fault. He’s going to get a hefty compensation payout.”

Harrison lifted himself off Maxi just enough to make eye contact in the dark. Maxi sent him a small smile, rubbing up and down Harrison’s back.

“He’s going to be okay, from what the doctors can tell. He didn’t damage anything internal, but he was pretty crunchy from the mid-thigh down.”

Harrison rolled his eyes and despite the situation he couldn’t help the smile.

“Only you could describe burned skin as crunchy. That’s disgusting.”

“Well, maybe I’m a little disgusting.”

The Australian reached up to kiss Harrison, surprised when his boyfriend pulled away a little.

“I’m still mad. Just a text, Maxi, that’s all I ask.”

“I know you’re mad, and I’m sorry. I don’t blame you.”

The smaller of the pair raised an eyebrow and Maxi knew he wasn’t quite out of the doghouse yet. He sighed, rubbing up and down Harrison’s sides.

“Maccas breakfast tomorrow, my shout?”

“Now we’re talking.”

This time Maxi was allowed to kiss Harrison, and he did so with a certain gentleness Harrison almost forgot existed between them. Maxi nipped lightly at his bottom lip and Harrison whacked his shoulder, rolling off to lie beside the taller man.

“Not now.”

Maxi was not out of trouble with his boyfriend yet but he knew breakfast and morning sex could do wonders, as well as swapping his afternoon shift at Bondi for Harrison’s two early morning ones. It could have been _so much worse_.


End file.
